Posted as a comment to Commercial Vehicle Ordinance – Council Meeting Sept. 22, 2008/11/23 at 9:35 PM
Hello all. I am a newcomer. I’ve been a homeowner residing in North Plainfield for 4 years. Forgive me if I’ve aired my problem on the wrong forum, but after searching the web, this seemed to be the most appropriate place to voice myself. My interest in this subject was recently fueled by a violation notice I received a couple of days ago. This notice, prepared by Mr. Joe Nicastro, property Maintenance Inspector, charges that I have 2 “commercial” vehicles on my property that must be removed. The two vehicles, which I’ve had on my property for 4 years, in question are:
1. A single axle homemade trailer, made of a pickup truck bed that attaches to a trailer hitch, and is registered with the NJ DMV as a non commercial trailer
2. A tow dolly, used to pull my classic cars, which is not registered, as is not required by NJ Law.
My contention is neither trailer is registered nor used for commercial purposes. I phoned Mr. Nicastro, who politely told me he was simply carrying out James Rodino’s order to cite every trailer in the town, in an effort to, in his words, “clean up the town.” This reply came after I attempted to challenge this violation notice. I immediately phoned Mr. Rodino and left a message on his voicemail. I understand Mr. Rodino is a busy man and I am awaiting his call. In the meantime, I remained perplexed on this issue. Does the town code enforcement officer have the authority to declare a non commercial vehicle commercial? I don’t own a garage and if I lose this dispute, as I am planning to contest it, I will be forced to either rent a garage or sell my trailers. I would certainly be appalled if Mr. Rodino had the ability, under law, to declare a non commercial vehicle, commercial. If that is indeed the case, what’s next? My Tahoe? My wife’s Nissan? My 6 year old’s red flyer? Where would we draw the line?? If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to thank you for your interest, and if you can shed any light on this issue, I would love to hear from you.
Angel
4 responses so far ↓
Concerned Citizen // November 24, 2008 at 10:48 am |
If I were you, I would go to court with your registration that clearly states your vehicle is not a commercial vehicle. You will win because NJDMV trumps a town ordinance anyway.
Then, I would file a harrassment suit against the town, and Mr. Rodino.
Angel Alejandro // November 24, 2008 at 11:53 am |
Hello again. With respect to my “commercial” vehicle issue, I made a trip to see Mr. Rodino this morning who kindly agreed to see me without an appointment. I didnt know what to expect and was quite anxious. Mr. Rodino dug out my notice from a pile and told me, following my challenge of the notice, that he had gone to court and won cases like mine. He then surprised me by saying the ordinance was written originally to address the problem of larger trailers (such as those pulled by tractors) parked in residential areas and although it is his job to enforce violations, he was personally partial to me as my trailers are nothing of the sort. Mr. Rodino offered to investigate the basis for the notice and would get back to me. During our meeting, i asked Mr. Rodino for a copy of the ordinance and he initailly referred me to the clerk but then told me to look it up on the internet and save the money which was a very nice gesture on his part. I asked Mr. Rodino for the site, but our meeting ended before i could get a response. Does anyone know what that website is? And btw, thanks to that concerned citizen for his or her comment and to Mr. Rodino for his prompt attention to this matter.
Hal Hirsch, co-editor // November 24, 2008 at 1:06 pm |
Angel – It doesn’t appear to me the new ordinance is posted on the NP website.
The direct link is http://70.168.205.112/northplainfield_nj/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-hit-h.htm&2.0
Page down until you come to section 7-4.2.
Given you used your valuable time to visit Mr. Rodino in person, the least he could have done is make a copy of the ordinance for you. I’ll see if I can get a copy and email it to you.
Greg Hatala // November 24, 2008 at 7:04 pm |
“he was simply carrying out James Rodino’s order to cite every trailer in the town, in an effort to, in his words, “clean up the town.”
Take it from someone who they’ve attempted to ‘violate’ twice ( for a collectible vehicle twice ‘anonymously’ reported as a commercial vehicle); “I was only following orders” is a common phrase around here. And the implication is intentional.